The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) says it does not have any competition concerns on the acquisition of Laga Industries Limited (Laga) by Paradise Company Limited (PCL), which was announced in July 2018.
Immediately following the announcement of the acquisition, the ICCC conducted an independent investigation and sought information from the PCL (the acquirer), including other market information available to it to complete its assessment of the acquisition.
The ICCC Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Paulus Ain, said the ICCC, from its independent assessment, identified and considered the relevant markets or the markets likely to be affected (directly and/or indirectly) by the acquisition to be:
- The national manufacturing and wholesale markets for beverages;
- The national wholesale market for bottled water;
- The national manufacturing and wholesale markets for snacks; and
- The national manufacturing and wholesale markets for spices or condiments.
Ain said: “The ICCC found that there are no serious competition issues in any of the identified markets and therefore will not intervene at this point in time.
“The ICCC however advised the parties that it reserves its rights to revisit this matter should new information suggest that the acquisition will give rise to serious anti-competitive effects in a market,” Ain added.
The ICCC acknowledges the assistance of PCL for cooperating with the ICCC to ensure that the ICCC’s concerns and its requests for information were attended to in a timely manner.